A day in the life of a B.C. teacher

Tara Carman, Vancouver Sun05.28.2014

As educators across the province withdraw services for a day during their ongoing contract dispute — and their employer withholds wages for the withdrawal — The Sun looks at what teachers are required to do in a work day and how that can differ from reality.

By contract, the typical elementary teachers’ instructional day starts 15 minutes before students begin class and ends 15 minutes after the last class. The instructional day cannot exceed six hours and 15 minutes — this includes recess (15 minutes) and lunch (typically 45 minutes). Elementary teachers receive a minimum of 100 minutes of preparation time each week where they are relieved of instructional duties. A typical day looks like this:

8:30-8:45 a.m.: Teachers available for parents and students

8:45-10:15 a.m.: Instruction

10:15-10:30 a.m.: Recess, which may include supervision of students

10:30-noon: Instruction

12-12:45 p.m.: Duty-free lunch

12:45-2:30 p.m.: Instruction

2:30-2:45 p.m.: Teachers available to students, parents and colleagues

While teachers spend a little over five hours a day in front of a class, their work days are much longer than that — about 9.1 hours, at least for employment insurance purposes — and their salaries reflect that. The partial lock out reduces the workday to 8.1 hours, which still leaves teachers approximately three hours in which to assist students and attend to other non-instructional duties such as marking and lesson planning.

SECONDARY TEACHERS

By contract, the secondary teachers’ typical instructional day starts 15 minutes before students begin class and ends 15 minutes after the last class. The instructional day cannot exceed six hours and 30 minutes — this includes recess (15 minutes) and lunch (typically 45 minutes). Secondary teachers receive a minimum of 12.5 per cent of their instructional time for course preparation. Secondary preparation time is typically delivered by relieving the teacher from one block (course) each year. While not delivered on a daily basis, a teacher working full-time would get the equivalent of 48.75 minutes of prep time daily.The timeline below shows the mininum expected hours (top) versus the hours a typical secondary school teacher actually works (bottom):

8:25-8:40 a.m.: Teachers available for parents and students

8:40-11:26 a.m.: Instruction

11:26 a.m.-12:16 p.m.: Duty-free lunch

12:16-3:01 p.m.: Instruction

3:01-3:16 p.m.: Teachers available to students, parents and colleagues

SCHOOL HOURS VS. REAL HOURS

Pre-class work

Activities include:

• Dealing with staff/parent emails that have arrived overnight

• Making any necessary parent phone calls

• Getting any material ready for the day that wasn’t prepared the night before

• Meeting informally with colleagues to discuss a student or to plan co-ordinated activities.

• Interacting informally with administration regarding students as needed

• Marking (if time permits)

Lunch

Lunch is “supposed” to be duty free, but usually includes some of the following:

• Providing extra help to students who need it

• Providing “re-write” test time to students who have missed tests due to absence

• Getting “take away” work together for students who will miss class due to illness or other absences

• Attending school-based team meetings

• Dealing with emails that have arrived over the morning blocks

• Marking

• Perhaps a few minutes of interaction with colleagues in the staff room

Teachers may take work home with them, including assignments to mark or lessons to plan. On some nights, this may not be necessary; on other days, it can add one to two hours per night, or more.

Duties of teachers, according to provincial legislation

(1) The duties of a teacher include the following:

(a) providing teaching and other educational services, including advice and instructional assistance, to the students assigned to the teacher, as required or assigned by the board or the minister;

(b) providing such assistance as the board or principal considers necessary for the supervision of students on school premises and at school functions;

(c) ensuring students understand and comply with the codes of conduct governing their behaviour and with the rules and policies governing the operation of the school;

(d) assisting to provide programs to promote students’ intellectual development, human and social development and career development;

(e) maintaining all required records;

(f) encouraging the regular attendance of students;

(g) evaluating educational programs for students as required by the minister or the board;

(g.1) evaluating each student’s intellectual development, human and social development and career development, including, as required by the minister, administering and grading Required Graduation Program Examinations;

(g.2) ensuring the security of provincial exams, including retaining completed exams for any period of time set by the minister;

(h) providing information in respect to students assigned to the teacher as required by the minister, board or, subject to the approval of the board, by a parent;

(h.1) advising the school principal regarding the organization of classes in the school and the placement of students with special needs in those classes;

(i) when required to do so by the minister, verifying the accuracy of the information provided to the minister under paragraph (h);

(j) regularly providing the parents or guardians of a student with reports in respect of the student’s school progress; and

(k) attending all meetings or conferences called by the principal or superintendent of schools for the district … unless excused;

(l) working with student teachers assigned to them and … submitting a specified number of reports on their teaching ability or on other matters relating to them or to their work, considered necessary for the training of teachers by a university or institution.

Source: School Regulation, B.C. School Act, edited for space and clarity

Under provisions of the lockout, B.C. teachers are directed by employers to refrain from:

• Working during recess or lunch hours, except as required by an essential services order

• Arriving at work more than 45 minutes before or leaving work more than 45 minutes after the start of their instructional time

• Attending professional development activities … other than as scheduled on a non-instructional day

Bargaining unit employees are also directed not to substitute other work in place of any or all of the above-identified duties, regardless of where or when these substitute tasks are performed. This means teachers cannot do other work in place of the tasks they are prohibited from doing and expect to receive full pay.

Source: B.C. Public School Employers’ Association, edited for space and clarity

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.

In less than a week, Abbotsford recording artists Hedley went from touring Canada with two supporting acts and a popular new album to pariahs ensnared in allegations of sexual misconduct. On Monday, accusations that band members Jacob Hoggard, Dave Rosin, Tommy Mac and Jay Benison had engaged in sexual behaviour with teenage girls surfaced on Twitter […]

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.